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Thursday, April 21, 2016

8 reasons why Aunty Pond at Neo Tiew Crescent is one of the best fishing ponds in Singapore

I'll be honest. I have never loved or liked pond fishing as I always likened it to fishing prostitution. The pond buys fishes to release and the fisherman catches these fishes. There's nothing noble or "wild" about fishing for farm bred fishes. In pond fishing, we know what we're going to catch but in the wild, we don't know until we land the fish.

Pond fishing was "okay" last time when fishing pond operators released more fishes but as the cost of living in Singapore went up, so did the cost to release fish. Nowadays, pond fishing operators release so little fish that people often shout "TEE XIII PANG HEUR" more frequently.

That said though, It was my birthday and I wanted to go fishing for a few hours so Bakgal brought me to Aunty Pond at Neo Tiew. I was sceptical at first but as I went about my fishing, I must say that Aunty Pond has certainly given me a more refreshing experience.

Preparation for Singapore pond fishing is always troublesome and the first thing to think about (if you're baiting) is how your live bait well survive. Live prawns and milkfish are the most common baits being used here. Some regular pond fishing kakis will either bring a styrofoam box and aerator pump or they bring a small bait net to contain the live prawns. I was pleasantly surprised when Bakgal told me that I didn't need to bring any of these. Aunty Pond provided a white pail to contain the prawns and aerator hoses were provided all around the pond. You simply had to plug the hose into the pail of water! My professors at the LKY School would chip in and call it sustainable bait keeping (since you don't use batteries).

Oh yes and they sell live prawns ($4/100kg) and dead Kembong there too.

2. You don't need to bring fish keeping nets or fish stringer keepers. Use their baskets.

Isolate your catch in clean water!

I also didn't need to bring fish stringer keepers or fish keeping nets. The fishing pond provided fish keeping baskets at the corners of the pond. These baskets were numbered and submerged in a small enclosure pond. This may seem "normal" but anyone who goes pond fishing regularly would tell you that the difference here is that the water in the small pond is much more cleaner than the water in the fishing pond. The small pond had a good filtration system as well. The other obvious advantage was that since fish stringers and keep nets are not used (in the main fishing pond), there is less chance of the your line entangling with these fish keeping contraptions. In other words, you now have more space to fight the fish and coax it in.

3. The legend of the giant ang chors

The legend lives on!

The legend of the giant ang chor (golden snapper) of aunty pond is one I often heard. I encountered these giants when I was fishing at the aunty event fishing pond in the past but I didn't know they still exist now in the main pond. Although I didn't fish one up, I was fortunate to witness an angler land one of these giants. The guy landed the fish with a 1-4lbs rated tackle which was no mean feat since the fish weighed almost 4kg! Fishes of these sizes are need to excite the anglers so that we don't always catch just the odd table sized barramundi or snapper.

4. Clean water for washing hands are conveniently located around the pond

Water tank for cleaning hands

Sinks available too. Bring your own soap.

Another brownie point was that clean water for washing your hands or tackle were conveniently located around the whole pond. This made it easier for me to wash my hands (after I handled bait) or when you want to pack up (and wash your tackle). How thoughtful!

5. Landing nets are available all around the pond.

No need for boga, just use net lah.

One doesn't need to land his or her catch with pliers or bogas here. There were nets provided all around the pond which you can use to land your big catch.

6. Fishes were relatively healthy

Good colours on the KBL

Deep healthy red for the fat Mangrove Jack!

Healthy fish is necessary for a good pond fishing experience. If fishes aren't healthy, chances are they won't fight well and they may not even be feeding! Even you do land them, are you going to eat a fish which has pale complexion, broken fins or milky eyes?
Below is a video I took of fishes at a certain fishing pay pond in Singapore. The fishes were dying as they were being released. I wouldn't want to be eating such fishes!

Thankfully though, the fishes caught at Aunty Pond were very lively, fought well and looked ok too. I even made an exception to my "no eating of pond fishing" rule and ate a barramundi for birthday!

Yes, I ate pond fish.

7. Baktao managed to catch some fishes.

Tapao time!

Well, this reason may come as a surprise to you but I haven't been doing pond fishing for a long long time. This means that I have lost touch on how to do pond fishing and regulars will know this is important as you must know where the fish "hang out". Although I was very hardworking on spinning the live prawns to find the fishes, I was still surprised when I managed to get 5 fishes in the three hour session.

8. It is private.

Less crowd, more relaxing.

The best reason to like Aunty Pond though would be that it's 100% private. Aunty Pond has a strict entry only for anglers and they actually have a gate. This means that only those who fish can go in. This was great as you didn't had strangers or bystanders that would hang around the pond watching you fish. It just meant less people, more space for casting and in my case, more quiet time. That's how fishing should be actually. All alone by yourself and relaxing as you watch the world go by...

Aunty's Fishing Pond at Neo Tiew is located 291 Neo Tiew Crescent, Singapore 718903. You can contact them at +6567921318 or +6567923695. Operating hours are 8am to 11.30pm daily and charges are at $60 for 3 hours per rod. For more information, you can visit their Facebook.